Mulch receiving bin and method of using same

ABSTRACT

A rotatable mulch bin is formed from two similar drum members (1) and (2), typically plastics moldings which are joined together by bolts through interconnecting flanges (4). One, but preferably both ends of the bin are provided with lids (7) and (9) for adding or removing material. The rotatable bin is mounted on a stand (12) by way of a pivot tube or rod extending diametrically through the bin on axis (13), acting as a clump breaker for material within the bin when the bin is rotated. The two drum members (1) and (2) are designed to nest within one another when dissembled giving a compact configuration for transportation or storage.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to a rotatable mulch bin and has been devisedparticularly though not solely for the mulching of organic garden wastesuch as lawn clippings.

BACKGROUND ART

In the past many different forms of mulch or compost bin have beenprovided for the mulching of garden waste such as lawn clippings,leaves, small twigs etc, many of which are stationary bins designed tostand on a ground surface. In many methods of mulch making it isdesirable to turn over the material within the bin at frequentintervals, and this process is difficult with a stationary bin requiringthe manual use of a fork or similar implement. This problem has beenovercome in the past by providing rotatable mulch bins which rotateabout an axis extending through the mid-point of the drum and at rightangles to the axis of the drum itself, so that the drum may be rotatedor tumbled about the axis which is typically supported on a supportstand.

Rotatable mulch bins of this type have the disadvantage that they arebulky in design, taking up considerable space for storage aftermanufacture and particularly for transport from the place of manufactureto the point of sale. For example the number of mulch bins which can bepacked into a shipping container is extremely limited due to the bulkynature of the bin.

It is a further disadvantage of rotatable mulch bins of this type, thatsome material placed in .the bins tends to clump together even when thebin is rotated causing delays in the break down period of the grassclippings into mulch.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

The present invention therefore provides a rotatable mulch bin formedfrom two similar drum members each having an open end provided with ajoining flange and an opposite closed end, at least one said drum memberhaving an openable closure member in its closed end, the two drummembers being interconnected in use at their joining flanges so thattheir opposite ends are at opposed ends of the bin; and members defininga pivot axis extending diametrically through the interconnected joiningflanges, said members being supported on a support stand so that the bincan be rotated about the pivot axis in use.

Preferably the two drum members are substantially identical, each havingan openable closure member in its closed end.

Preferably the closure member comprises a lid secured to the bin memberby a bayonnet or screw fitting.

Preferably the two drum members are designed to nest inside each otherwhen not interconnected at their joining flanges.

Preferably the two drum members are molded from plastic material, eachdrum member being produced from the same mold.

Preferably the members defining the pivot axis include a tube or rodextending diametrically across the bin.

Preferably the joining flanges incorporate aligned semi-cylindricalrecesses at the location of the tube, forming bearing shells for therotation of the bin upon the tube or rod.

Preferably the tube or rod comprises a metal tube supported at each endby expandable anchor bolts engaged with the support stand and extendinginto the ends of the metal tube.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Notwithstanding any other forms that may fall within its scope, onepreferred form of the invention will now be described by way of exampleonly with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a rotatable mulch bin according to theinvention;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation of a rotatable mulch bin according to theinvention;

FIG. 3 is a side cross-sectional elevation of the mulch bin shown inFIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a scrap view to an enlarged scale showing a vertical sectionthrough one end of the pivot tube on which the bin rotates.

MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

In the preferred form of the invention a rotatable mulch bin is formedfrom two similar drum members 1 and 2 each preferably molded from asuitable plastic material. Each drum member has an open end 3 providedwith a joining flange 4 which typically extends radially outwardly fromthe open end of the drum and is provided with a series of bolt holes sothat the two drum members can be bolted together with their open endsaligned by way of nut and bolt assemblies 5.

At least one drum member has its opposite end 6 closeable by a closuremember 7. The closure member typically comprises a round lid detachablysecured to the bin member by a bayonnet fitting 8 or alternatively by ascrew fitting (not shown).

In the preferred form of the invention the other drum member 2 isidentical to the drum member 1 and is also provided with a lid 9 securedby a bayonnet fitting 10. It will be appreciated however that it is onlyessential to provide the bin with one opening lid and the second binmember 2 may optionally have a closed opposite end 11.

The mulch bin is supported from a support stand 12 (which is typicallyfabricated from metal tube) by members defining a pivot axis 13.Although the members defining the pivot axis may simply comprise boltspassing from the stand 12 into the bin in the location of the flanges 4,in the preferred form of the invention the members defining the pivotaxis include a tube or rod and preferably a tube 14 extendingdiametrically across the bin to the outer edges of the Joining flanges 4as can be clearly seen in FIG. 3. The joining flanges are molded toincorporate aligned semi-cylindrical recesses in the location of thetube, forming bearing shells for the rotation of the bin upon the tube14.

As can be seen in FIG. 3, the flange 4 is provided both in the vicinityof the semi-cylindrical recesses and also generally around the flangewith reinforcing triangular fillets 15.

The metal tube 14 is supported by expandable anchor bolts 16 passingthrough the support stand 12 on either side of the bin and into the endsof the tube 14. Once so assembled, the bolt heads 17 may be tightenedcausing the anchor member 18 to expand within the tube 14 and firmlysecure the tube in place on the stand 12 in a simple yet effectivemanner. Once the two drum members 1 and 2 are assembled on the tube 14,the entire bin so formed can then be rotated about the horizontal axisdefined by the tube 14.

In use a rotatable mulch bin according to the invention has a number ofimportant advantages over rotatable mulch bins hitherto known. Firstlybecause the bin is provided with lids 7 and 9 at either end, the bin ismuch easier to empty than conventional rotatable mulch bins as both lidscan be removed at the same time for ease of clearing the bin.

Because the bin is provided with a tube or rod 14 extendingdiametrically through the center of the bin, the tube acts as a "breakerbar" for clumps of grass clippings contained within the bin which fallfrom one end of the bin to the other when the bin is rotated. This is aconsiderable advantage over earlier rotatable mulch bins in which grassclippings clump together and therefore take a long time to break downinto mulch.

The rotatable mulch bin according to the invention is also considerablyless expensive to manufacture and transport to the point of sale thanpreviously known bins. Because the bin is formed from two drum members,the size of the die required for injection molding is approximately onehalf that required to mold a bin in one piece. This results inconsiderable savings in die cost and tool handling. Furthermore, oncethe drum members have been molded, they can be nested one inside theother for storage and transport to the point of sale. In this way it ispossible to pack many times the number of rotatable mulch bins accordingto the invention into a shipping container than has been hithertopossible using conventional one piece molded bins.

I claim:
 1. A rotatable mulch bin, comprising:a pair of drum members, each drum member having an open end provided with a joining flange and an opposite closed end; at least one of said pair of drum members having an openable closure member disposed at said opposite closed end; said pair of drum members being interconnected together at the joining flanges so that the opposite ends are disposed spaced apart from one another for helping to define a garden waste receiving bin; members including a breaker bar and defining a pivot axis extending diametrically through the interconnected joining flanges for breaking up clumps of garden waste; bearing means disposed on said drum members for supporting rotatably said bar to help facilitate the substantially free rotation of the bin about said pivot axis; and a support stand for supporting from below said bar, said bar being supported so that said bin is rotatable about said pivot axis to cause the garden waste to fall under the force of gravity against the breaker bar to facilitate mulching the waste.
 2. A rotatable mulch bin as claimed in claim 1, wherein said pair of drum members are substantially identical, both drum members having an openable closure member on a respective closed end.
 3. A rotatable mulch bin as claimed in claim 2, wherein each openable closure member includes a lid secured to the respective drum member, and bayonnet means for securing said lid to an individual one of the drum members.
 4. A rotatable mulch bin as claimed in claim 1, wherein said pair of drum members are molded from plastic material, each drum member being produced from the same mold.
 5. A rotatable mulch bin as claimed in claim 1 wherein said pair of drum members are designed to nest inside each other when not interconnected at their joining flanges.
 6. A rotatable mulch bin as claimed in claim 1, wherein said pair of drum members are composed of a plastic material.
 7. A rotatable mulch bin as claimed in claim 1, wherein said bar extends to the outer edges of the joining flanges, said flanges each incorporating a semi-cylindrical bar receiving recess to form said bearing means for the rotation of the bin upon the bar.
 8. A rotatable mulch bin as claimed in claim 7, wherein said breaker bar is a metal tube and wherein said tube is supported at each end by expandable anchor bolt means for engaging the support stand and for extending into the respective ends of the metal tube.
 9. A rotatable mulch bin according to claim 1, wherein said pair of drum members are substantially similar.
 10. A rotatable mulch bin according to claim 1, wherein said bearing means is defined by a pair of recesses.
 11. A rotatable mulch bin according to claim 10, wherein said pair of recesses are disposed on said flanges, each flange having an individual recess disposed thereon.
 12. A rotatable mulch bin according to claim 11, wherein each recess has a semi-cylindrical configuration.
 13. A rotatable mulch bin according to claim 1, further comprising anchor bolt means for securing said breaker bar to said support stand.
 14. A rotatable mulch bin according to claim 13, wherein said anchor bolt means includes a pair of anchor bolts.
 15. A rotatable mulch bin according to claim 14, wherein each anchor bolt is an expandable anchor bolt and is adapted to be received within an open terminal end of said breaker bar.
 16. A rotatable mulch bin according to claim 1, wherein said flanges are each reinforced with triangular fillets.
 17. A rotatable mulch bin according to claim 1, wherein said breaker bar is a rod.
 18. A rotatable mulch bin according to claim 1, wherein the mulch bin may be disassembled for shipping purposes.
 19. A method of using a mulch bin according to claim 1, comprising:placing a quantity of garden waste material into one of the drum members; and rotating said bin about its pivot axis periodically to cause the garden waste material within the bin to fall under the force of gravity against the bar to break apart clumps of garden waste to help facilitate the formation of mulch.
 20. A rotatable mulch bin, comprising:a plurality of drum means, each drum means having an opening terminating in flange means for enabling at least two individual ones of said plurality of drum means to be joined together for defining a garden waste receiving bin; elongated breaker bar means partially disposed within the center of said bin for helping to separate clumps of garden waste within said bin as the bin is rotated about a pivot axis defined by said bar means; said elongated bar means having a pair of opposite ends and including an elongated member being sufficient in length to extend across substantially the entire transverse dimension of said bin; means defining a bearing shell disposed at said flange means for receiving therein a portion of said elongated member to help facilitate the substantially free rotation of the bin about said pivot axis; support means for resting on a stationary surface and for supporting said bin at a sufficient distance above the surface to permit the bin to be freely rotated about the transverse axis of said bar means; and securing means at said opposite ends of said bar means for retaining said bar means rotatably on said support means. 